Descarriado
by Kishire
Summary: Ichigo has lost his powers. Grimmjow has lost his memory. The former Espada is far away from home and Ichigo isn't quite sure what to do with a stray cat. Inevitably they will clash, but perhaps it need not be a violent one. Ichigo decides to aid the former Sexta, and hopes he'll turn out to be a friend rather than a foe, or perhaps, even something better. GrimmIchi, slightly AU.
1. Stray Cat

_A/N: This is an AU story, in the sense that it's an alternate timeline, alternate events and the characters, well, just slightly tweaked. Nothing too OOC. This is also an M-rated story, meaning it will contain foul language, sexual themes, blood, gore and the like. It takes place one week after Rukia left and Ichigo lost his powers. _

_Reasonable goals I have for this story: A) Reaching a 100 reviews. B) Completing it. C) Making it something I can be proud of._

_Unreasonable goals I have for this story: A) Reaching a 1000 reviews. B) Kubo reading this and deciding to put GrimmIchi in canon. C) Writing some of this in space. I don't know what that has to do with the story itself, but I really wanna go to space._

_I hope you enjoy, and reviews are greatly appreciated!_

* * *

**Descarriado  
****I: Stray Cat**

"The King gallops

Shaking free from his shadow,  
beating the armor,  
kicking about the bones,  
slurping the flesh and blood,  
the creaking increases,  
smashing the heart

**He walks alone  
toward the faraway other side**."

_-Bleach volume 32: Howling._

Sand as far as the eye can see. Feet sinking into it ever so slightly, grains of it flying everywhere with the swings of his sword, the movements of his legs—walked on it, bled on it, rested on it—yet now, the sight of it made him angry.

Cold nights had soon turned into a mockery of daylight the moment the God who put himself above Death entered the wastelands known as Hueco Mundo. Nothing, not even this arrogant God devoured by his own hubris, was certain in this realm of continuous conflict. Nothing but the sand. He thought it would always be the one constant in this life. Prey far beneath his standing scattered about everywhere (oh, he remembered how he used to be one of them) mindlessly eating, and eating, and eating. He wondered sometimes why his hole had turned out to be on his stomach. Eating, and eating, and eating—even his comrades—perhaps this body had grown tired of it and had decided to reject any more of it.

It didn't matter. The sand was everywhere. _The sand was everywhere_.

Once, he'd sought to reach beyond it, to escape the battlefield of never-ending—

"_I don't know if you're a king or what, but crushing everyone you despise and standing alone—what's the point in something like that?!"_

The point? He didn't quite remember. All he knew was the sand and war. Constant. Just like his desire to become the king; to rise above all the scum and beasts roaming through these godforsaken deserts, to rise so far that he wouldn't have to look at those monsters anymore.

Yet he'd be stuck here. He had been stuck here from the minute he regained his individuality as an abomination.

The _point _was not to just gloat over his goddamn victories, the _point _was not to flex his muscles and roar—the _point _was to escape. He didn't care for subordinates or comrades or whoever else if they weren't useful. Ultimately, here, it was every beast for itself. Only a king could rise above this. Only a king could escape.

Then this Shinigami—this human creature—suddenly seemed to be all that was blocking his escape. How could _he _understand, how could _he _possibly think to be the same when _he'd_ never wandered these sands on the constant look-out for enemies that could devour you at any second, that could end your life at the blink of a fucking eye, how could _he _know the wars suffered, the struggle to retain your individuality for a time so long minutes and hours and days and months and years had disappeared into nothing. Nothing at all. Nothing but the sand.

This anger brewed inside him, boiled in his veins and his blood, the sand under his fingers suddenly invoking feelings of pure disgust. Stuck _here_. While _he _lived out _there_. With his _friends_, no fucking worry in the goddamn world, living like a king—

The green blob of a child screeched at him when he rose from the sand covered in blood, dried up by now, his chest and neck covered in saliva—or vomit, it didn't fucking matter, because it healed him enough to **leave**_**. **_

He wasn't thinking clearly and he didn't have to be thinking clearly because who the fuck needed clear thoughts when you were out to kill?

* * *

The air in Karakura Town was so much lighter than what Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez was used to. It nearly made him sick. The pavement of the road felt different from the sand; the humans passing him so casually and not even realizing a predator—injured, granted, but still a _predator_—was lurking amongst them. Some turned their heads when he passed them but didn't see, only faintly picking up his presence before they shrugged and continued on their way in the cool summer evening.

He stopped.

Something was off.

Cars meaninglessly passed by while he didn't have enough strength to search by air as he much preferred to do. While that noisy kid had healed his injuries it was only superficial at best. Grimmjow didn't know how the fuck he was supposed to fight in this state as the mildest exertion of his strength would rip open his wounds again—that fucking Nnoitra, he hoped the bastard was burning in the pits of Hell—but he didn't care because he was too angry.

Either way, even if he could search by air, Kurosaki's presence—gone. Gone. Fucking GONE.

"What the hell?"

No, not entirely gone. He narrowed his eyes, barely picking up two small flames a block away. Was that shitstain consciously suppressing his reiatsu?

Grimmjow gritted his teeth and quickened his pace, his vision blurring every so often but he didn't give a shit. He just wanted to bash that orange head in and obliterate it with his fists until those condescending eyes had been reduced to nothing but dust.

"Kurosaki! Get the fuck out here! I know you can sense me, you bastard!" he screamed while he continued onwards towards wherever the fuck that asshole had holed himself up in—shoving humans out of his way while he did, most of them looking baffled at the invisible force having pushed them to the ground.

"Kurosaki!"

What was that guy doing? Did he honestly think he could fool Grimmjow?!

"Kurosaki! I'll fuckin'—"

Ire so focused on that one house he didn't notice the presence of the measly Hollow until the humans around him started panicking by a sudden blast thirty feet or so away. No doubt it had sensed his weakened state and had decided to take advantage of it. This only served to heighten his rage, pulling out his sword with a furious gaze blinded by red.

"You little shit! Don't get cocky just 'cause I got a few cuts!" Grimmjow growled at the arachnid Hollow—its eight legs strangely attached to hands. The Sexta Espada cut off two of its legs with such force his wounds ripped right open and he was stunned for just a second—enough for the spider to slam one of its hands into the Arrancar; head between the monstrous hand and the stone of the ground below him—smashed down.

Everything turned black. Then blank.

* * *

"He didn't hurt anyone, did he?!"

"Well, you see, Kurosaki-san—" Kisuke Urahara waved his fan around cheerfully as he gestured to the backroom of his shop, "The Arrancar is in quite a unique situation." The room was occupied by the shopkeeper, the former Substitute Shinigami, and two of his friends. It had been after school that the concerned teenager who'd only lost his powers a mere week ago had gotten a call from Orihime Inoue, informing him that she and Yasutora Sado had found the former Espada. He didn't know the details, but Ichigo Kurosaki was a hundred percent certain that Grimmjow hadn't come to Karakura Town for just a casual visit.

"What the hell do you mean, '_unique situation'_?" he questioned, standing on his feet, as if ready to barge into the backroom where Grimmjow was and… well, he didn't know _what _he'd do, exactly. For one, in this state, Ichigo couldn't even _see _him, let alone hurt him.

Orihime and Chad were seated next to Urahara, exchanging anxious looks as Ichigo frowned, confused with the situation. Urahara, as always, was quite light-hearted about it. Ichigo himself didn't quite understand how he always managed to be that casual; meanwhile, he was running worst-case-scenarios through his head. Had Grimmjow injured anyone? Went on a rampage on the other side of town and destroyed buildings or something?

"Apparently your friends found him knocked out on the ground, about to get eaten by a Hollow."

Ichigo blinked.

"_Eh_?"

That was certainly not the answer he'd been expecting.

Urahara simply chuckled.

"He woke up a while ago, actually. I managed to squirm him into a slightly modified Gigai since I had a feeling you'd want to talk! He's been surprisingly quiet, though. Then again, that could be because—ah, Kurosaki-san?"

"K-Kurosaki-kun!"

"Ichigo!"

Bullshit. Complete bullshit. There was _no way in hell_ that _Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez_—the guy who'd beaten him to hell and back and then some—would've been overpowered by just a regular Hollow. It had to be some kind of trick to deceive them and then strike when they were least expecting it! There was no way someone as strong as him—

Ichigo shoved the sliding door to the backroom open with a loud noise, scanning the room for a speck of blue and finding it sure enough near a window. More blue was peering towards the outside world with furrowed eyebrows. Ichigo was a little thrown off by the lack of his Hollow Mask, usually on his jaw and cheek, when the Arrancar turned his head to look at him. Seeing him in human clothes was especially weird as well, though it was nothing more than standard jeans, sneakers and a very plain, white t-shirt.

"Grimmjow! What kind of game are you playing?! Do you honestly think you could deceive me?!" the orange-haired teen exclaimed while stomping into the room, not so much angry as he was more worried for the damage the man could do. Grimmjow merely stared, and while Ichigo could sense something was amiss from the way he looked at him, he brushed it off.

"K-Kurosaki-kun, he's not—"

"If you want to fight then come at me, but leave everyone else out of this!" Ichigo paused for a moment, scowling. "Though I can't… I can't fight right now, there's still no reason for you to involve anyone else." Orihime was right behind him, her concerned look burning holes into his back as he glared down at the ground, painfully aware of his lack of power. Even if Grimmjow wanted to fight him, right now he had nothing but this weak human body which would no doubt get decimated within seconds.

Grimmjow was turned fully towards him now, looking him over from head to toe with a mild frown on his face, hands shoved into his pockets. Ichigo stared back, wondering what the former Espada was looking at. Grimmjow was silent for a few more seconds, making Ichigo slowly grow more anxious, until what came out the Arrancar's mouth then completely blew him away.

"Who the fuck are you?"

"**He walks alone  
toward the faraway other side**."


	2. Deal With The Devil

_A/N: I'd like to thank all of you who already fave'd (guys it was only the first chapter; the good part isn't even here yet!) and are following this story—hope you enjoy the ride—and an especially huge thanks to the kind reviewers who help me keep my motivation up!_

_I hope you'll like this next chapter as well, and reviews are greatly appreciated!_

* * *

**Descarriado  
****II: Deal With The Devil**

"You listenin'?"

Tessai poured green tea in their cups as they were all seated in the backroom now, soft steam rising from the boiled liquid, the scent quickly filling the room while the sound of pouring water was a welcome distraction for Orihime to focus on anything else but Ichigo's flabbergasted look or Grimmjow's piercing gaze. Chad had decidedly kept his eyes on the former Espada, still identifying him as a threat. Urahara was simply observing as this spectacle played itself out, seeming to be mildly amused on the surface though he was cautious all the same.

Ichigo was the only confused one in the room at the time. Amnesia seemed like a perfect excuse—then again, the Arrancar didn't _seem _like he was lying, but Ichigo really wasn't the right person to figure out a lie unless he was exchanging blows with the liar. Any other time, he was rather gullible.

Grimmjow did look different; the scorching ferocity that had been lingering in his eyes had been hauled back to a more reserved, watchful gaze instead of the violent look of a loose cannon. Even though Ichigo hadn't really known him as a person, he'd gotten a basic outline of his character and he couldn't see the ticking time bomb of the past.

"I dunno what beef you had with me before, but you should count yourself lucky I lost my memory, kid."

He was still cocky as ever, though.

"So what _do _ you remember?" Ichigo asked, ignoring the itching of his fingers and the vein thrumming on his forehead while he kept his irritation in check. Orihime, seated on his right, nervously twisted her cup in her fingers while she blew softly to make the tea cool down. Chad's cup was untouched, his shoulders tense while he was seated on Ichigo's left. Grimmjow sat across them, with Urahara basically on the sidelines. The former Sexta scratched the back of his head while his eyelids lowered slightly in a lazy, contemplative look.

Ichigo counted exactly sixteen seconds before Grimmjow finally answered.

"Sand."

"Like that's helpful!" Ichigo exclaimed frustrated, while Orihime chuckled nervously, taking a quick sip from her tea and kept her eyes fixated on her knees.

"Now, now, Kurosaki-san, that question _was _a little too vague." Urahara pointed out with a mild smile. "I think it's better to stay specific."

"Fine." Ichigo grumbled, brushing a hand through his hair with a sigh before looking at Grimmjow's face again, which was set in a lackadaisical expression. "Do you know what you are?" The sphere in the room turned about as tense as Chad's shoulders, Orihime nearly dropping her cup while Grimmjow scowled, leaning forward to glare at Ichigo, who returned the sharp look with pleasure. Urahara seemed the only one relatively unaffected.

"I'm a Hollow, if that's what you mean." the Arrancar grunted, clearly getting annoyed now. "But I don't remember looking like this."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't remember evolving. Last time I checked I was an Adjuchas on four legs, not an Arrancar."

"Do you remember the Espada at all, then?" The annoyance on Grimmjow's face faded while he leaned back again, on his two hands which were resting behind him on the ground. The thoughtful look was only temporary as it twisted into a scowl quickly.

"No."

"Do you remember Aizen?"

"No."

"What about—"

"Look, asshole, all I remember is being in Hueco Mundo like always, then waking up in this shithole in some crappy faux body with a bunch of human freaks telling me I got attacked and knocked out by a fucking foot soldier. That's all I know. Enough with the interrogating." Grimmjow snarled, his patience clearly having worn thin rather quickly. Ichigo glowered at him, but couldn't discern any evidence of lies in his expression nor from the tone of his voice.

"Well, I think that's enough of that." Urahara announced cheerfully, though Ichigo was still wary of the amnesic Arrancar.

"So why the hell did he come to Karakura Town? Last time I saw him he was too injured to even move." Ichigo demanded to know with a look towards Urahara. Grimmjow looked from one to the other, rather bemused.

"I was what?"

"From what Inoue-san and Sado-san have told me, it seems he was looking for you right before he got knocked out."

"I was _what_?!"

"Why?" Ichigo questioned perplexed, glancing at Grimmjow who was just as baffled, though more so angry-baffled at Ichigo who staring at him for an answer.

"The fuck you lookin' at me for? Like I know!" he growled, the first signs of discomfort showing in his body language.

"Kurosaki-san, you had three battles with him in the past, correct?"

"Yeah," Ichigo said, not sure where Urahara was going with this. "The first time he beat the shit out of me. The second battle, Shinji interrupted so that doesn't really count, and the third time I beat him." he recounted, Grimmjow's expression changing from content to downright agitated.

"So you defeated him and you left?" Urahara questioned, and Ichigo shook his head.

"No, some freakishly tall Arrancar blindsided him and tried to kill him off."

"Tried?"

"I stopped him." Ichigo replied honestly, not regretting his decision despite the complications it might've brought on.

"Evidently, Grimmjow-san didn't appreciate that. In fact, I think the reason he came here looking for you was to demand a rematch, wasn't it?" Urahara concluded as he turned to Grimmjow for confirmation, who nodded curtly—looking rather pissed and mildly shocked. "So in that injured state, it would've been easy for even a weak Hollow to ambush him. All because he was looking for _you_."

"Wait, are you saying it's _my _fault?!" Ichigo responded, half-outraged half-stunned. "I can't help that he was stupid enough to come out here with all those injuries!"

"Who the fuck are you calling stupid?!" Grimmjow yelled at him, not letting that comment slide. "If you hadn't been a complete pussy and had killed me off this shit wouldn't have happened in the first place!"

"I spared your life and then _saved it_, you bastard! Show a little gratitude!"

"That's not how you do things, you fucking moron! You're supposed to _destroy_ your enemies, not SAVE them!"

"Calm down now." Urahara shoved the both of them back down on the ground and got them out of each other's faces—both of them having gotten up to their feet during their little shouting bout. "How about we let bygones be bygones, yes?"

"Like hell—"

"Fuck that—"

"Grimmjow-san! Like it or not, you still owe this man a debt! Unless you don't have the honor to repay it?" Grimmjow scowled, crossing his arms and turning his gaze away while Ichigo smirked smugly. "But, Kurosaki-san, I think we can all agree he's _your _responsibility now." The smirk on the boy's face dropped immediately.

"What?!"

"He is in this situation because he came looking for you. It would be negligent and completely irresponsible if you ignored him now."

"Then what the hell do you want me to do with him? Why can't we just send him back to Hueco Mundo?!"

"I ain't going back there until I've bashed that face of yours in, you bastard."

"Oh?! Then why don't you do it right now, eh?!" Ichigo challenged him boldly (and stupidly). Even if the guy had amnesia, he was still far stronger than him.

"Che, I'm gonna destroy you at full power." Grimmjow scoffed, then blinked. "…Just have to remember what the fuck that was again…"

"Well then, it's settled! Grimmjow-san, feel free to train on the Hollows who show up in this town regularly until you've re-mastered your strength! Kurosaki-san, I expect you to keep an eye on him. Sounds like a fair deal?"

"W-wha—Urahara, what the hell?! You know I lost my—" The shopkeeper clasped a hand over Ichigo's mouth who squirmed under his surprisingly strong grip. Grimmjow frowned slightly but didn't comment on it.

"Alright, you got a deal, hat-guy." the former Sexta replied with a shrug. Ichigo pushed Urahara's hand off him angrily. This really wasn't the time to be so goddamn relaxed and make deals on _other people's accounts_ without their damn permission! Ichigo hadn't agreed to any of that!

"Where is he even going to stay?!"

Grimmjow gave him an irritated look.

"I'm a Hollow, you dipshit, I don't need a fucking house to accommodate me. What am I supposed to do with this thing, anyway?" he questioned while he stared down at his Gigai. That's where Urahara chimed in again.

"You see, Kurosaki-san doesn't have much spare time in the weekdays to chase you around, so I thought it would be more productive if you joined him instead." Urahara announced with a light-hearted smile. Orihime and Chad exchanged knowing looks while Ichigo gazed at the man for a few seconds before it finally dawned on him.

"You're going to put him in my CLASS?!"

* * *

"Good mornin', Jaegerjaquez-san!"

"Jaegerjaquez-kun! Good morning!"

"Yo! Jaegerjaquez!"

Ichigo dropped his forehead onto his desk with a loud thud while the Arrancar walked into the classroom as if he'd always been part of the class, girls fawning over his good looks while the boys (like Keigo) tried to impress him with big stories or being loud in general. Grimmjow himself seemed completely apathetic towards all of this as he walked over to his seat, which meant that in teen-world he was the embodiment of "cool" itself.

Meanwhile Ichigo felt like flipping a table at his stupid blue head for saddling him up with this mess. What was even worse was that he'd taken Rukia's old seat—which only served to agitate the former Shinigami since, well, he still remembered how Grimmjow had punched a hole in her gut. But, he also recalled what Urahara had told him yesterday in private.

"_Kurosaki-san, I don't believe it's wise to make enemies in your condition."_

"I know that, dammit." Ichigo muttered with his head planted on his desk. In his condition—with no powers whatsoever. When Rukia had left he'd told himself he'd be just fine. He'd gone most of his life without powers, and he'd just have to fall back into that same pace. However, he'd soon realized it wasn't that easy.

With the knowledge of Hollows roaming around, hunting humans, sitting still was far harder than he'd imagined. He had to depend on his friends to defend the town now, and that just didn't feel right. He'd resolved himself so firmly to being Karakura Town's protector that having those abilities stripped away from him… well, he didn't want to say he was depressed, but it was pretty obvious that he was depressed.

What the hell was Urahara expecting him to do, anyway? When Grimmjow re-mastered his powers he'd want to fight Ichigo; was Urahara expecting him to make friends with the Arrancar until then so he _maybe_ wouldn't want to brutally kill Ichigo and _somehow _would be understanding of his _sacrificed-my-powers-for-the-greater-good_-situation? That was one hell of a gamble, but then again, Ichigo was used to the man's eccentric (and life-threatening) ways of achieving success. Still would've been nice if hat 'n clogs would've ASKED HIM FIRST before making a freaking deal on his behalf like that.

Then something hit the side of Ichigo's head, interrupting his broody thoughts. He turned to give Grimmjow, who was sitting in the seat next to his, the nastiest glare he could muster.

"What do you do here all day?" his former enemy asked, languidly staring at a pen he was twirling between his fingers.

"You listen to the teacher and take notes." Ichigo hissed back as said teacher came in and greeted the class with perfect timing.

"That sounds fucking boring." Grimmjow remarked, putting the pen down on his desk and slouching down in his seat. "Can't you just leave or somethin'?"

"No, you can't just _leave._ We're both staying here; you made a deal, remember? You get to train, but I have to keep an eye on you."

"Tch,"

Ichigo sighed and focused back on the teacher. Fifteen minutes passed in silence and he did not glance towards Grimmjow once.

Until he saw a pen flying from his general direction towards the teacher and hitting her on the back of her head.

"Kurosaki, what did you do that for?" Grimmjow called out loudly, barely suppressing a mischievous grin. Mrs. Ochi immediately directed her sharp gaze towards the boy. The whole class was gaping at him pointedly now, assuming him to be the culprit. Even Inoue and Chad seemed to be surprised at him, not suspecting the Arrancar of pulling off something so childish. Of course; in their eyes, he was too much of a big, bad, boogeyman to pull a prank. Kind of like Aizen throwing pie. Didn't feel right.

Grimmjow just smirked while Ichigo blinked.

"I... w-what? I didn't do anything!" he protested, his bemusement quickly turning into anger which was immediately directed towards Grimmjow. "_You _did that! Don't try to frame me for it you jerk!"

"Eh? Why would I do that? The pen came from your direction. I saw you throw it." the Arrancar lied through his teeth.

"Fine, then the _both _of you can enjoy detention, unless one of you wants to come clean?"

"Nope." Grimmjow replied with a casual shrug, only making Ichigo angrier at him.

"You fucking bastard!"

"Kurosaki, watch your language!"

The orange haired teen conceded with a sigh and remained quiet for the rest of the lesson, glaring at Grimmjow who seemed quite amused with having gotten Ichigo into trouble while he continued to laze around for the rest of the lesson. At some point he'd propped his elbow up on the table, leaning his head on his hand and had seemingly fallen asleep. He didn't even _try _to look like he was paying attention and for some reason the teacher completely ignored him as well.

Ichigo scowled down at his sloppily written notes and looked around the classroom some more, sharing a look with Ishida who seemed just as displeased with this situation as he was.

They were in for an interesting lunch break, at least.


	3. Juice Box Interest

_A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, guys! This story is getting more popular much faster than I'd expected and I appreciate your support greatly!_

_Drop some more reviews, and enjoy the next chapter!_

* * *

**Descarriado  
****III: Juice Box Interest**

"Gri-mm-jo-wwwww!"

Ichigo decided then and there, that Keigo was an idiot unlike any he'd seen before.

The sun was bright on that Friday morning, the entire town tranquil while the low buzz of students chattering inside even being heard from the roof of the high school, where Ichigo and his friends (and Grimmjow) were having their lunch. Ichigo wasn't feeling particularly hungry, especially since he had to face Ishida's wrath for agreeing with Urahara's deal. Meanwhile Keigo was under the impression that Grimmjow was his best friend. Ichigo didn't know _what _ Urahara had done to alter his classmates' memories in such a way that the former Espada had been immediately accepted and he wasn't sure he wanted to know either. Probably some conveniently shitty "memory spray" or whatever.

On the other hand, seeing Grimmjow's briefly stunned expression at Keigo acting all buddy-buddy with him, Ichigo wondered, did the guy have no sense of danger whatsoever? Well, seeing as how Keigo was standing on his toes just to be able to put a hand on the Arrancar's shoulder, the answer was evidently no.

Before Grimmjow spewed an insult and shoved Keigo off him with a force that would no doubt break a bone or two, Ichigo stepped in. The Espada probably wasn't considerate enough to keep in mind that humans were a lot more fragile, after all.

"H-hey, Keigo, look, it's… it's Beyoncé!" he lied horribly, pointing at some random woman walking across the street. Keigo frantically ran to the railing on the roof, trying to spot the superstar.

"OOOH, BEYONCÉ?! WHERE, WHERE?!"

Grimmjow blinked once, for a moment befuddled by the odd behavior, but then merely turned his head away, walking over to the railing and sitting down on it, swinging his feet over it without a care in the world so he could enjoy the view.

"Hey, that's dangerous! You could fall off." Tatsuki scolded him with a frown. Grimmjow glanced at her much the same way you'd look at an ant, then continued to peer into the distance. There was a light spring breeze, summer knocking on the town's door, and aside from the Hollows the town was a quiet one. Ichigo wondered what the man was thinking as he watched him for a while, taken in by the oddly contemplative look on Grimmjow's face.

The sunshine falling on his hair made a cyan color reminiscent of the sky right after dawn while his untamed locks swayed gently with the slow wind. Seeing him so calm felt very strange to Ichigo, as he slowly realized that if he were to get Grimmjow on his side before the man decided to destroy him, he had to somehow get to know him better.

"Kurosaki! Did you hear a thing I just said?!"

"Huh?" Ichigo frowned and looked at the Quincy who'd apparently been talking to him. Keigo was complaining in the background about the non-existent Beyoncé while Mizuiro, Orihime, Tatsuki and Chizuru were eating lunch near the railing—Tatsuki being the only one not seeming bothered by Grimmjow's presence, next to Chad who was standing next to Ichigo. Ishida was evidently not happy.

"Have you _lost your mind_? Why would you agree to something like that?!" Granted, the guy was probably just concerned, but it was still really irritating to Ichigo to see him overreacting like that. Or at least in his mind it was overreacting.

"He'll take care of Hollows for free and he'll leave everyone else alone. What's the big deal?"

"It's not for free, Kurosaki." Ishida hissed. "What do you think will happen when he remasters his powers? He'll go after you, and you're—well…." he stopped himself mid-sentence, as if afraid to even _say _it. For a split-second, Ichigo felt as if someone had shot an arrow straight through his gut. It was okay for him to acknowledge it, but for _Ishida _to say it was a smack in the face. Despite that, he just rolled his eyes and covered his face in a mask of nonchalance.

"I'll just cross that bridge when I get there. You worry too much." He could feel someone's gaze on him but didn't turn around to look into what would be curious blue eyes.

"Um, G-Grimmjow-san, aren't you going to eat anything?" Both boys turned around to see Orihime having gathered her courage and actually talking to the intimidating man. Grimmjow's feet, dangling off the railing he was seated on, swung back over and he got off, turning to the girl who was obviously nervous but had good intentions nonetheless.

"Don't have food." he replied tersely, shoving his hands back into the pockets of his pants—though it was weird to see him in a high school uniform, he pulled it off quite well.

"Oh," Orihime glanced down at her feet for a moment as she brushed a lock of hair behind her ear, then held up her juice box. "W-well, do you want this? I'm full, but I don't want to throw it away…." Grimmjow grabbed the drink out of her hand.

"Orange juice?" He stared at the thing for a few seconds, looked it over from all sides, then scowled. "The hell do you open it?"

Ichigo grimaced as Rukia immediately sprung to mind, having had the same problem with juice boxes at first. He'd asked the others and none of them had seen her in Karakura Town ever since she'd first left. He didn't know what to think of it, but he was sure she had her own business to take care of now. He heard Imoyama-san had been assigned to Karakura Town instead, but he'd proved to be more unreliable than they'd thought, the duty of protecting the town from Hollows falling onto Ishida's shoulders instead. Well, at least with Grimmjow around, the Quincy wouldn't have to work so hard either.

"You use the straw and poke a hole in it."

"What? With this thing?"

"A-ah, you need to poke the—"

"What the hell?! It broke! Tch, piece of shit straw. I'll just use my teeth."

"Grimmjow-san, I don't think that's a good—"

The juice box burst and the juice spilled all over his shirt, as he'd bitten the box far too hard and had caused it to rip open. Grimmjow stared down at the juice staining his shirt and pants while it dripped down on the ground—an awkward silence among all those present.

Until Ichigo pointed his finger and started laughing at him.

"That's priceless! Who the hell bites a juice box open?" he said in between his loud chuckles, everyone else relaxing and starting to laugh as well. Grimmjow dropped the ruptured pack on the ground and snatched Ichigo by the shirt with an angry growl.

"You wanna start somethin', you fucking brat?!"

"Oh no, please don't bite me to death—"

"You son of a—"

Saved by the bell. Lunch ended, as if Grimmjow's risen fist had cued it to, and students slowly started to retreat back indoors. The former Espada kept glaring at the smirking teen for a few more seconds, before he released him rather roughly and turned away.

"Are you guys coming?" Mizuiro called, the rest of the group already having gone ahead. Ichigo was about to respond in confirmation until he remembered something from yesterday.

"In a minute!" Grimmjow shot him an impatient look as the roof quickly became empty except for the two of them. "Just wanted to ask you something."

"What?"

"You mentioned something about being an Adjuchas yesterday." the former Shinigami recalled briefly, and Grimmjow frowned at the odd statement. Ichigo, on the other hand, knew that if he was supposed to get to know this guy better, he had to start _somewhere_.

"So?"

"What's it like? Living in Hueco Mundo like that, I mean." Grimmjow's eyes widened slightly, before he let out a wry laugh. The teen suddenly started feeling stupid and glowered at the Arrancar. "What's so funny?"

"_That's _all you want to ask? Why would you care? Are you touched in the head or something?" Grimmjow responded with a snicker, making the other feel embarrassed.

"I-I was just curious, you jerk! If you don't wanna answer then just say so!" Ichigo retorted heatedly, crossing his arms with a deep scowl, making Grimmjow snort.

"If you really want to know, it's hell of a lot harder than being human." the man answered, the sarcastic scorn in his voice fading away to a more cold tone as he turned to look at the view again. "It's a constant struggle for survival; there's no room for weakness or hesitation."

Ichigo remained silent at hearing this. He'd never really wondered about what Hollows did in Hueco Mundo until now, but hearing this, it didn't surprise him that Grimmjow had turned out the way he did after being forced to live in such an unforgiving environment.

"Hey," Grimmjow snapped, interrupting Ichigo's train of thought and glaring into his eyes. "If you start pitying me I'll beat the shit out of you."

"I'm not pitying you." Ichigo snapped back with an irritated look, starting to walk back towards the stairs so they could return to class. Grimmjow trailed behind him.

"How a spoiled brat like you managed to beat me is a fucking mystery. I can barely sense any reiatsu coming from you." Ichigo nearly flinched at that remark, which did not escape Grimmjow's eyes. "Tell me, brat. How _did _you beat me, eh?"

"It's complicated." Ichigo mumbled grumpily, getting tired of being reminded of his lost powers as they got inside and walked down the stairs.

"It damn well better be; no way that should've been an easy victory. You probably just got lucky." Ichigo gritted his teeth but wisely kept his mouth shut. "Start talking, brat. What are you?"

"What do I look like to you?"

"A human."

"Then that's what I am." Grimmjow grabbed him by his shoulder, making him twist around to face him. They were in the corridor, their class just a few meters away. Ichigo stared at Grimmjow's inquisitive expression while his blue eyes flitted over Ichigo from head to toe, leaving the teen feeling a little awkward. There was an elongated silence as predatory eyes devoured all that they could, searching for a hint or anything that might give something about the kid away. When he found it, eyes narrowed.

"Don't fuck around with me. There's still a trace left." Grimmjow stated, though not distancing himself as he regarded the other who was avoiding all eye-contact. "Che, I knew it. You were a Shinigami, weren't you? What happened? Ya broke your sword or something? Kicked out of Soul Society?"

"Shut up. That's none of your business." Ichigo snarled, shoving his hand away and taking a step back, intending to return to class. Grimmjow smirked amused.

"Touchy, touchy." he jeered, though his grin quickly faded. "But that's not all, is it?" Ichigo was confused at this, giving him a puzzled look. Grimmjow's gaze pierced right through him at that moment, before he realized what the Arrancar was talking about.

"You…." Grimmjow's frown deepened. "Why do you have Hollow reiatsu? What kind of freak are you?"

"I'm not a freak." Ichigo snarled defensively, starting to grow seriously angry. "I told you it's complicated! Can we drop it now?!"

"Hey, you two! Why are you so late? Get in class!" they then heard the teacher call, and both giving each other nasty glares, they returned to the classroom, though Mrs. Ochi stopped Grimmjow before he got to his seat. "What happened to your shirt?" she asked. Grimmjow looked down.

"Spilled juice on it." he answered indifferently.

"Do you have an extra shirt?" she asked, the entire class staring at him by now which was starting to piss the Arrancar off. He pulled the shirt off in annoyance, leaving him only in a white top, his muscles more exposed and Ichigo swore he could _hear _the girls swooning instantly—with a few exceptions. Not that he didn't understand why; Grimmjow's muscles and abs were pretty much flawless and he'd experienced their strength first hand, though he'd never really looked at them before until now.

The Arrancar ignored the teacher's flabbergasted gaze as he walked towards his seat and dropped down on it, putting the dirty shirt on his table and completely ignoring all the looks shot towards him, whether they be envious or love-struck. Instead he stared at Ichigo and only Ichigo—which made the teen entirely uncomfortable for the rest of the lesson. Even when he'd look back Grimmjow would simply stare longer for a few seconds, break the gaze, and when Ichigo had turned away, start staring again. Even though he'd called him a freak, it was obvious that somehow Ichigo managed to get him interested.

Well… _interested_ was a funny word for it. Then again he really didn't have another word to describe the looks Grimmjow shot his way. It wasn't fascination; it was more like how a cat eyed an insect—not particularly inclined to prey on it, but drawn by its movements nonetheless.

For better or for worse, Ichigo would have to find a way to hold that interest and turn it into a friendship, or he'd be royally screwed.


	4. Eggs and Condoms

_A/N: Thanks for the feedback, guys! How am I doing with the characters so far? I really don't want them getting OOC and want to keep them as close to the canon as possible. Any side-pairings you'd like to see? _

_Longest chapter yet and we have some... sort of... progress, I guess you could call it. I'm horrible with chapter titles so I'm making them incredibly trivial from now on. _

_Enjoy!_

* * *

**Descarriado  
****IV: Eggs and Condoms**

The human world was a lot more complicated than Grimmjow had anticipated. Apparently the red light across the street was _not _just for show, and no, punching a car was _not _allowed either. The Kurosaki kid was dragging him along since he'd gotten a text from his sister asking him to buy some groceries on the way home—and since Grimmjow was supposed to stay around him, he had no choice but to tag along.

The mall was busy and filled with humans _everywhere_. Grimmjow noted these humans could often times be divided into several distinct categories.

First there was the parent and their offspring. These… litters of overly energetic talk-machines either were complete morons or cried and screamed a lot while the parent tended to be either too incompetent or too tired to deal with them.

Next was the utterly boring man in formal clothing, rushing off somewhere with his fancy suitcase and prone to glare at you as if you were the scum of the earth. Were they not ants in comparison to him, Grimmjow might've actually considered to waste an iota of energy in violently murdering them. As it was, he decided they were hardly worth it.

Next were—god spare him—the _teenagers. _Here he'd been thinking Kurosaki was probably the most troublesome one until he met the rest of his species. This category had several subcategories, the most common ones being the giggling teenage girls who unabashedly ogled his ass, and the stupid-beyond-imagination, testosterone filled males who thought they were part of a fucking gang.

Direct confrontation, with Grimmjow's stature and aura (and hair) standing out like a sore thumb, was inevitable.

The two of them—strawberry-named boy and, ostensibly, foreign exchange student from Germany with a rare hair pigment mutation—crossed the road to get to the supermarket. Before they arrived, however, the delinquents blocked their path in the middle of a busy street, already making the both of them heavily question their intelligence. Not to mention they were dressed as if they were part of the mafia when, clearly, they were barely older than Ichigo.

"Oi, you," the leader (a plump guy with glasses and an afro) called towards Grimmjow, whose stance was completely relaxed and body language conveyed he really couldn't give a shit about the current situation. The Arrancar's eyes gazed down at the short wannabe yakuza with half-lidded eyes, seeming to be bored and hardly interested in what the human had to say.

Ichigo on the other hand was just getting irritated as he sighed and scratched the back of his head. He was wondering whether to just spare everyone's time and knock them out or wait around for the delinquent to deliver his insults first—so he'd be triply humiliated after having talked shit and ended up with his head bashed into the concrete.

"You're the new meat right?" the leader said to the Arrancar rather pompously while his lackeys smirked—four of them, standing behind him. That seemed to catch Grimmjow's attention as he slowly raised his eyebrows. Ichigo stared at the brief facial movement and was surprised to see how short they were. He hadn't noticed that before. Usually Grimmjow's shockingly blue eyes or his hair drew most of the attention.

"You look like 'n alright kinda guy, so I'll give ya this warning! For free!" the gang leader exclaimed while dramatically pointing his chubby finger towards Ichigo. "If you wanna be somethin' big in this place, stay away from THAT freak!"

Ichigo sighed and started rolling his shoulders in preparation of beating the ever living shit out of them. He'd really rather not, but the guy on the far left was pulling out a knife and there were kids around. He wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible, scanning to see if there were any cops nearby.

He drew his brown eyes back to look at his companion when he heard a loud, mocking laugh uttered beside him. Grimmjow seemed genuinely humored, a hand over his mouth as he chuckled, the sound a low, scathing noise with a dangerously dark edge to it. Ichigo had to say, it was... an _attractive _sort of laugh. When Jaegerjaquez was done laughing—the gang's faces aghast at this mocking—he turned to Ichigo.

"We going?" he asked lazily, his face back to the indifferent expression that was almost always painted on it. Ichigo blinked twice, looking from the bewildered gang to the apathetic Arrancar, and was unsure how to respond. Grimmjow didn't actually roll his eyes—Ichigo figured he felt he was too dignified for that—but he did give him that exasperated look before he moved on ahead with hands in his pockets. The gang split apart, almost instinctively—like a flock of birds scattering when a panther took a walk through the high grass.

…Ichigo decided he had to stop watching those nature documentaries.

He lingered just for a moment longer before he followed Grimmjow towards the entrance of the supermarket, until the gang leader decided to pick up the pieces of his shattered pride and have another go at it.

"Oi! You're makin' a big mistake, newbie!" he screeched unpleasantly, making other people turn around to look at the spectacle. Ichigo scowled at the guy as he briefly looked over his shoulder, and then saw Grimmjow stop walking, but the Arrancar didn't turn around. The gang leader continued yelling.

"You think you can just ignore us, eh?! Or are you too scared to talk?!"

There was a silence as everyone with a shred of social sensibility could feel the guy had crossed a line there—and you did _not _ want to cross any of Grimmjow's lines unless you were on a suicide mission. Ichigo watched tensely as the other turned his head.

The look on Grimmjow's face as he glared over his shoulder to the gang was one that exuded pure voracity—one that awakened an ancient fear in the hearts of these ignorant trash bags, which was the same fear blossoming inside a mouse as it was being hunted down by the cat. It was something all prey experienced at some point in their lives—something even the former Sexta had once felt himself, though that had been a long time ago.

"Too scared to talk?" the predator repeated slowly, a cold irony to his tone as he stared pointedly at the humans. "Would _you_ talk to an ant?" This reply that chilled them to the bone did not receive a retort. Grimmjow smirked at their silence. "Thought so." The air became denser and heavier, his reiatsu increased for just a _sliver, _but enough to freeze everyone in the near vicinity. He glanced at his quiet orange-haired companion before he walked ahead. Ichigo was a little stunned that Grimmjow hadn't gone further than that basic intimidation, but then again, he knew the man was prideful and wouldn't want to lower himself as to make _everyone _annoying a legitimate enemy. Besides, from the faces of the delinquents, Ichigo could tell they were too scared shitless to do anything anyway—because they'd seen that Grimmjow had meant it. In his eyes they were nothing more than insects; hardly worth fussing about.

Ichigo couldn't help but admire that. Sure, he hadn't spared them out of compassion but out of his own sense of dignity—still, it was nothing Ichigo had ever managed. He couldn't help but fight back no matter who the opponent, even if fights would be easily avoidable by doing what Grimmjow did; just put on the air of serious killing intent and it would be enough to make these rats shit their pants. But he didn't possess that kind of self-control. He hadn't thought Grimmjow did either from what he'd seen in their battles—then again, the former Espada had considered Ichigo a _worthy _opponent, and thus going all-out had been only logical at the time. The man was turning out to be more complex than Ichigo had anticipated.

The supermarket was fairly busy since it was the afternoon, and Grimmjow—towering over most other humans even though he wasn't ridiculously tall—just stood still and looked around for a few seconds as Ichigo fetched a shopping basket. A cart was too big for the basic things he was going to buy: milk, yogurt, bread, eggs and garlic sauce. He glanced over his shoulder to see Grimmjow had fallen into pace behind him, following him silently, and though uneasy with the Arrancar's eyes fixated on him, Ichigo continued walking. By the time they'd reached the dairy section the silence had soon turned rather awkward. Ichigo started getting a little frustrated as he dumped a milk carton in the shopping basket he was carrying, and decided maybe small talk would help.

"So what do you think of this world so far?" he asked, making Grimmjow look up from his staring at a particularly noisy kid walking by—who instantly quieted down when she noticed Grimmjow giving her an irritated look.

'_He'd make a good dad if he wasn't excessively violent. Or psychotic, for that matter.' _Ichigo thought dryly while he trudged onward towards the bread section after getting some yogurt as well. Grimmjow followed closely.

"Boring." the Arrancar responded monotonously.

"I'd take you to the karate dojo if I weren't afraid you'd kill everyone there." Ichigo replied dryly, narrowly avoiding an inattentive lady who would've rammed her shopping cart straight into him had he not slid to the side immediately. He supposed that was one good thing he got out of this mess of losing his powers—his reflexes and natural instinct had been sharpened by past battles.

"What do you humans do for fun?" Grimmjow asked while Ichigo put the bag of bread in the cart as well and moved on to look for the eggs.

"Um, we hang out together, I guess. Go to the movies or play video games, on good days go to the beach—"

"How is hanging around these pieces of crap any fun?" Ichigo turned to give him an annoyed look.

"In this world it doesn't matter how strong you are, Grimmjow. I hang out with my friends because they're _nice _people with _nice __**personalities**_. I couldn't care less about their strength."

"Che, what a load of shit." Ichigo opened his mouth to respond snappishly until Grimmjow cut him off. "But I suppose it makes sense. Your world obviously doesn't need battles to keep spinning. Instead you made it stupidly complex and based around social interactions." He snorted. "Idiotic."

"How is that idiotic?!" Ichigo protested while he went to look for the final item on the list, the garlic sauce, and Grimmjow followed him as he went.

"You create scum like those insects earlier; weaklings that don't even deserve to be alive. You become frail and complacent—almost as if you _want _to be attacked. In Hueco Mundo this is different; only the strong survive and the weak are destroyed. Humans are pathetic."

"You're forgetting that a human kicked your ass." Ichigo remarked sharply, moving on as he'd gotten the garlic sauce and intended to pay and get home already. An hour of playing Tekken would probably relax him some more.

"Human? You mean hybrid freak with the remnants of Shinigami and Hollow reiatsu." the former Sexta scoffed.

"Stop calling me a freak!"

Not even Tekken was going to help him calm down now. Grimmjow really was maddeningly infuriating when he wanted to be. He was also surprisingly controlled and astute—not the loose cannon Ichigo had imagined him to be, but that was beside the point.

"What else would you call yourself?" Grimmjow asked, entertained by Ichigo's heavy responses to his pestering.

"I already told you! A HUMAN!"

An awkward silence as people around him stared—then burst into chuckles. Ichigo's face turned red (whether from anger, embarrassment or both, he couldn't quite tell) and his fingers twitched, tempted to throw the shopping basket at the man's head while he was smirking widely.

As they walked towards the line for the cash register, Grimmjow was briefly sidetracked as they passed the aisle with products for personal hygiene and such—probably because the bright colors of the products had caught his eye.

"The hell are tampons?"

"Gr-Grimmjow! Drop that! Let's go!"

"What? Why are you in such a hurry?"

"Grimmjow, for the love of god, _put the tampons down._"

"What about these? What are these?"

Seeing Grimmjow wave a pack of condoms around invoked more questions than Ichigo would've liked—did Hollows even _have _sex? Wait, no, thinking about that was probably a bad idea; too late, however, and for the first time in what could've easily been months, his hormones started acting up and he froze. He could feel even his ears heat up at this point as sexual mental images flooded his head and Grimmjow looked at him inquisitively.

"You look like your head is about to explode."

"Just… just put the box away," Ichigo muttered as he tried desperately not to think the things he was thinking—which only made his brain want to think of it more. Grimmjow watched him with that glimmer of interest back in his eyes again, before he grinned maliciously.

"Not until you tell me what they're for."

"I-it's… t-they're for guys to use during… during sex, alright? Could you drop the box now?!" Ichigo half-hissed, half-stuttered. Grimmjow looked from the condoms to Ichigo with an unreadable expression.

"Sex?"

"You do know what—"

"Yes, I know what sex is, you idiot." Grimmjow interrupted him brusquely, studying the red box of condoms and ignoring the stares they got from other people passing by.

"Have you…?" Ichigo didn't know _why _he was asking, or why this should even matter, but Grimmjow was such an enigma to him that he felt like he couldn't complete the puzzle unless he actually saw every singly part of him. Grimmjow's eyebrows rose in a derisive look.

"Hollows don't have the _tools_ for that—until the evolution to a human form, though that's incredibly rare. Even if we did, we're too busy killing and eating each other to care for sex." Grimmjow finally put the box away. "So no, I never fucked anyone and even now I don't feel like it either. Don't see the point."

"Oh." Ichigo rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. "W-well, I guess it's primarily meant for reproduction. But people say it's… you know." Grimmjow gave him an annoyed frown.

"No, I don't."

Ichigo sighed. "They say it's… um, it feels really good."

"_They say_? So you don't actually know? Huh."

"What? Is that surprising?" Ichigo replied defensively, completely out of his comfort-zone. Since the imminent doom to earth had been dealt with, his natural teenage boy tendencies had started acting up and with that came a natural curiosity for sex. But, Ichigo being Ichigo, he was having a hard time dealing with it. Grimmjow yawned, clearly uninterested in their conversation. Had it been anyone else, Ichigo might've actually been surprised they were so lacking in manners.

"I figured you would know, since you humans seem to breed like rabbits—"

"We don't _breed like rabbits_!"

"I can't walk three fucking steps without running into one of you." Grimmjow pointed out, clearly frustrated with how busy it was in the store as they got in line for the cash register—ignoring all the odd looks they received from the people around them who picked up parts of their conversation. "At least Hueco Mundo had way more space than this shithole."

Ichigo rolled his eyes but didn't respond to that, both of them falling into a short silence as they waited for their turn. The teen pondered briefly about their awkward conversation before his thoughts wandered off to all the times Keigo had attempted to talk to him about things like sex and Ichigo had curtly brushed him off—this had been back when he'd still had his Shinigami powers. At the time there were just much greater concerns for him than puberty, but it seemed like it was all finally catching up to him.

For some reason he was far more comfortable talking to Grimmjow about it than Keigo—or anyone else, for that matter. He supposed Grimmjow's nonchalant behavior helped with that greatly, though it was clear the man was no wiser on this topic than Ichigo was. The teen couldn't imagine asking _any _of his friends about this. Ishida looked like he would probably make it sound too clinical and scientific, Chad was not an option because of how unbearably awkward it would be, and Mizuiro would probably make some sneakily mocking remarks and embarrass him.

Well, there was always his dad—

His dad. Isshin Kurosaki. The guy who had a life-sized poster of his deceased wife hanging on the wall and repeatedly woke up Ichigo with a flying kick to the face. No. Not a good idea.

It seemed the only one he could talk to this about was Grimmjow—who wasn't even _interested_ in the topic. Ichigo supposed it normal. The guy was an adult… and non-human. How old was he, anyway? His appearance was one that made him seem in his early twenties, but aging was complicated with spirits. Maybe it didn't even matter. The guy acted like an assholish twenty year old either way, and he doubted that would—

The windows of the supermarket broke, shards of glass flying everywhere as people tried to cover themselves while screaming and being in a general state of panic. A cold wind blew into the store, sending shivers down the spine of all the humans present. Ichigo turned to look at Grimmjow, who was smirking from ear to ear.

A Hollow had appeared.


	5. Hollows Don't Date

_A/N: Sorry for the long wait! Your support is invaluable. Thank you so much, and enjoy the next chapter!_

* * *

**Descarriado  
****V: Hollows Don't Date**

Everyone around them ran, screaming, panicking, children crying—a shopping cart flew through the broken windows and crashed into an aisle, humans scurried to find a safe place. The thing had probably been thrown by the Hollow, for as far as Ichigo could tell as he couldn't exactly _see_ the creature; it was unlikely anything _else _had thrown that cart. Grimmjow, however, could. The curve of the excited smirk on his lips quickly faded into a chagrin line; he was displeased.

Meanwhile, Ichigo dropped down to hide behind the large counter of the cash register—its previous owner long having abandoned her post. He _really _didn't like the prospect of having to rely on Grimmjow's homicidal urges to stay safe—besides which, as he glanced over the counter to check on his companion, the Arrancar didn't seem interested in the Hollow anymore. All things considered, it was a small fry.

"What the hell are you doing?! Kill it already!" Ichigo yelled at him with a frustrated scowl, ducking when another shopping cart came flying, passing right over the counter he was hiding behind and crashing into a stack of cans.

"Yeah, yeah, shut yer mouth already." Grimmjow drawled languorously, watching the crab-like Hollow roar and smash through the supermarket, breaking the wall and completely destroying whatever had been left of the windows. Its screeches resonated eerily within the building—a high pitched, raspy noise entirely unpleasant to the ears. Ichigo barely heard it, like a soft echo from a far-off memory. He'd heard these screams numerous times before but only now, did he hear the subtle undertone of a human voice crying beneath it. He'd never thought about it, never paid attention to it; and now he wondered, had Grimmjow once been like that?

The crab Hollow turned to glare down at Grimmjow and roared once again, while the former Sexta merely stood there and gazed up at the creature, entirely unimpressed.

"You're in luck, ya little shit. You get to choose how to die. Should I just bash your mask in or rip your legs off one by one?"

Ichigo got up from the counter, glaring at Grimmjow. "Just get rid of it before it causes more damage!" The man glanced at him with an irritated scowl.

"Che, killjoy."

The Hollow now seemed to notice Ichigo and—Grimmjow not a tad bit interested in protecting the boy—lunged at him with a surprisingly long claw. Ichigo only managed to dodge it because of the air the claw blasted his way as it shot forward to crush him, his naturally fast reflexes saving him from imminent doom, Ichigo ducked and quickly took his distance, feeling the razor-sharp claw missing his head by a hair's width.

"Grimmjow, what the fuck are you doing?! TAKE CARE OF THAT THING ALREADY!"

"Why can't you?"

Ichigo blinked, puzzled by the sudden question as Grimmjow turned to him with a dark look. "If you were strong enough to beat me in this form, then you must be strong enough to fight one of these foot soldiers. Why don't you take care of it?" Ichigo gritted his teeth, but in this situation he had no choice but to tell him the truth. Damn, the guy was certainly more perceptive than he looked.

"Because I lost my powers, alright?!" Grimmjow gazed at him for a few seconds, blue eyes widened for a moment as Ichigo looked away—in shame or anger, he couldn't quite tell.

"If I kill this maggot," Grimmjow said slowly as he shifted to the left casually, avoiding a claw with a certain fluidity you wouldn't expect from someone with such a rough exterior, "I'm gonna get the full story from you." It wasn't a request; it was an order. Ichigo wasn't in a position to argue.

"Fine, fine!"

The Arrancar turned back to the lesser Hollow in front of him, easily stepping out of the way from several more attacks, before growing bored. The next claw that came aimed to his head was blocked by his hand.

"I wonder if I can crush this—" He squeezed suddenly, exerting most of his strength and seeing the claw shatter in his hands instantly. The smirk returned to his lips. "Not bad."

The Hollow roared again, this time using two of his other claws to lash out. Grimmjow, with the feral grin still on his face, grabbed both of them with his hands. Instead of squeezing, he started pulling, and with a firm jerk, both claws popped off the Hollow's torso with a sickening crunch. It started screaming again, this time in agony. Ichigo couldn't really see it happening, but the movements the Arrancar made were more than telling – and he was grimly reminded of the fact that, no matter how human Grimmjow would seem to act at times, no matter the core of the human soul that had endured through the twisting and fracturing of turning into a Hollow, he was still a predator by nature. A predator that enjoyed to toy with his prey.

"Tch, didn't even last a whole minute." Grimmjow raised his hand in front of him, staring at it in mild curiosity as he did so, as if contemplating something. He balled it and relaxed it several times, before setting it in a firm fist and staring at the Hollow who was still screeching over its injuries. Ichigo watched tensely, as he saw the other readying himself to deliver a fatal blow to the creature invisible to the teen's eyes.

Grimmjow's fist burst straight through, what Ichigo would assume, was the Hollow's mask.

Its last screech was the wail of a dying animal as it collapsed on the ground, and slowly started fading away. Ichigo let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, feeling relieved but rather disturbed at the same time, getting out from behind the counter and approaching his blue haired companion with a deep scowl. Grimmjow stared back at him with apathy as Ichigo dragged him along by his arm to get out of the supermarket before the cops showed up and found them being the only ones left in a partially destroyed store.

They pushed through the crowd of people gathered outside, slipping through an alleyway and safely disappearing out of sight. Ichigo took a second to catch his breath before looking up at Grimmjow who was still glaring at him. Or rather, staring. The glare seemed to be standard; cold as glass or smoldering like the embers from a blaze, it was always a firm glower painted in his blue eyes.

"I'm waiting, brat." he sneered impatiently, referring to what Ichigo had agreed to a few minutes ago.

"It's… it's complicated—"

Grimmjow grabbed him by the front of his shirt and jerked him closer with dangerous glint in his eyes, patience having worn thin. "Start talking, Shinigami!"

Ichigo pulled himself free with a glare of his own. "I'm not a Shinigami. Not anymore."

"Heh, that much was obvious."

"Look, do you want the story or not?!" Grimmjow remained silent, his mocking sneer dying on his lips, which Ichigo took as a yes. "To defeat a really powerful enemy, I had to use a certain technique to beat him that cost me all my powers. You were… well, you _used _to be on his side. I beat you back when I was at full strength."

The former Sexta narrowed his eyes. Ichigo prayed he didn't just dig his own grave, and tensely awaited Grimmjow's reaction. Nothing could be read from his indifferent expression, other than the grimly thoughtful look that made him furrow his short brows slightly.

"Alright, listen here," the blue haired man suddenly spoke up after several seconds of silence, "First I'm gonna get all my memories back, then I'm gonna surpass my old strength, and _then _I'm going to beat the shit out of you. If you haven't gotten your powers back by then, that'll just be tough luck for ya. Got it?"

"W-wait, what? You'll fight me even if I'm powerless?!"

Grimmjow smirked cruelly. "No, I'll _crush _you if you're powerless. I'll fight you if you're strong."

"You—that's—what the hell kind of—"

"Deal with it, brat." Grimmjow said with an indifferent shrug, smirk fading as he treaded out the alleyway in slow, lazy steps—still somehow remaining fluid in his movements, like a sleep-dazed cat in no hurry whatsoever.

Ichigo remained behind completely dumbstruck for a moment, before he quickly followed him with a puzzled frown. "How are you going to get your memories back anyway?" he asked as he easily caught up to him, both of them crossing the street of a relatively empty road, neither knowing where they were even headed.

"Dunno." Grimmjow replied lackadaisically, seeming none too concerned with his own mental state. "They should just return on their own over time."

"What if they don't?"

The former Sexta shot him an annoyed glance. "Then I'll skip over the _'retrieve my memories'_ part and go straight to the _'beating the shit out of you'_ part."

"How are you so casual about this? I mean, those are_ your _memories. Don't you want to know about everything that happened?"

Grimmjow snorted. "You really have no clue what a Hollow's life is like, do you?" Ichigo opened his mouth to protest, but realized that the Arrancar was right. He'd never given it any thought. "'Sides, from what I'm hearing, I don't think I'd _want _to remember getting beaten by some stupid brat either."

"Then tell me what it's like." Ichigo replied, ignoring his other statement. Grimmjow glanced at him and gritted his teeth, lips almost curling into a snarl which tensed Ichigo though he didn't take any distance, continuing to walk beside the man.

"What's with that look?" the Arrancar growled, his deep voice rumbling in his throat with palpable irritation—Ichigo considered the rough noise, surprised by how pleasant it sounded. "Tch, those eyes of yours really…" He froze mid-sentence, Ichigo stopping a few steps in front of him, alarmed at the sudden change. Grimmjow's eyes widened slightly as he gazed at something in the distance, muscles tense.

"Grimmjow?" Ichigo asked hesitantly when seeing him zone-out so suddenly.

"Those eyes… really piss me off." The soft mutter echoed through Ichigo's head. Where had he heard that line before?

They had eye-contact, and the realization of what had just happened, together with the foreign sense of panic he hadn't felt ever since he'd seen Aizen cut down the Shinigami Captains right in front of him, struck Ichigo like a jolt of electricity. Had he remembered everything? Was this it, then? Was Grimmjow going to kill him?

Instead of lunging at him and going for his jugular like Ichigo had expected him to, the Arrancar's tense shoulders relaxed slightly after their eyes had met, a confused and frustrated expression playing on his face as he gazed intently at the boy who was nailed to the ground like a statue affixed to its pedestal.

"Did you… remember anything?" Ichigo asked quietly, fight-or-flight instinct having cooled down before it could've urged him to make a choice.

"A flash." Grimmjow responded, his eyes so firmly set on Ichigo that it was starting to make him grow uncomfortable. It seemed like the Arrancar's interest in him had grown yet again, and he doubted that was a good thing; he felt like a mouse stuck in his hole with the wide blue eyes of a cat outside peering in curiously.

Then again, he could try to use this to his advantage, _somehow_. He had no clue how to go about befriending someone who'd tried killing him and hated his guts—

Ishida, Renji, Ikkaku, Kenpachi, Byakuya, everyone else in Soul Society—on second thought, it could actually turn out to be quite possible. He just had to try, which would be difficult. He'd never actually _tried _making friends; people just had a way of getting attached to him for some reason.

"Do you… uh, wanna go to the movies or something?" he then asked, which for Grimmjow would no doubt seem completely out of the blue seeing as how he wasn't a mind reader and had no idea what Ichigo was actually attempting.

The Arrancar cocked his head slightly to the side with a deep scowl. A brief silence passed as Ichigo started growing really uncomfortable at the silence. Grimmjow narrowed his eyes.

"You have issues, kid."

"I don't want to hear that from _YOU_!"

"Ichigo?" The orange haired teen froze, slowly turning to look over his shoulder and spotting Keigo and Mizuiro gaping at the two of them.

"Were you just asking Jaegerjaquez out on a date?" Mizuiro asked, seeming slightly shocked but not thinking anything else of it. "Sorry, did we interrupt you?"

"Date?" Grimmjow repeated, eyebrows raising in puzzlement as he shot the frozen teen a questioning stare.

"I-I-Ichigo! I didn't know you swung that way!" Keigo exclaimed far too dramatically, seemingly completely bewildered by this sudden development. If you could even call it that—it had more been Ichigo's clumsy way of asking his former enemy to go hang out with him on a platonic level, but the awkward phrasing and delivery had given off a different vibe altogether.

"I don't!" Ichigo protested immediately, feeling his cheeks heat up. "I-I wasn't asking him out in _that _way! Ju-just as friends!"

"Mhm. Well, let's go Keigo. We're probably in their way." Mizuiro amended with a smile that said he didn't believe a word of Ichigo's explanation. Meanwhile Keigo was looking as if he'd just seen a ghost as the smaller boy started dragging him away. Ichigo buried his face in his hands in complete embarrassment, listening to the sounds of cars driving past as he let out a deep sigh.

"Kurosaki," He _had _to look up at Grimmjow's use of his name, though. A little flustered—and nervous at what the Arrancar was going to say for some reason—he looked at him. Grimmjow seemed… well, indifferent towards the whole thing.

"Yeah?" Ichigo asked reluctantly. The uncaring look in those blue eyes turned into a wholly intense one, capturing Ichigo's gaze effortlessly and holding him prisoner there, boring holes through his brown eyes which were entirely mesmerized. Grimmjow's mouth opened slowly, as if what he was about to say would change everything between them. Ichigo gulped anxiously, waiting for what seemed like an eternity before the Arrancar finally broke it to him.

"…" Grimmjow closed his eyes, letting out a deep breath. "I don't date."

Ichigo's jaw dropped as the former Sexta walked passed him in that cool, nonchalant air of his, hands stuffed in his pockets as he left the teen behind with a flabbergasted expression.

"THAT'S what you wanted to tell me?!"


End file.
